


Dog Shelter

by tsukkiyamatrash



Category: Haikyuu!!
Genre: Dog Shelter, M/M, i need a beta reader
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-11-21
Updated: 2017-11-21
Packaged: 2019-02-05 02:50:37
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,307
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12785343
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/tsukkiyamatrash/pseuds/tsukkiyamatrash
Summary: Takeru wants to adopt a dog and Oikawa has to take him to the local shelter. Little does Oiks know he's about to meet the love of his life there.





	Dog Shelter

**Author's Note:**

> First attempt at writing in english. Gosh i need help

Oikawa Tooru is a young man, just graduated high school, with plans for the future and various interests. He is what girls in school would call ‘terrifically handsome’. His grades were excellent, his friends were many, he was the volleyball team’s captain and his skills in the sport could not compare to anyone else’s in the whole school. But high school days had ended and all of his success was now just a memory. 

Now Oikawa’s got plenty of free time. There was more than a month until the start of his university life and yet he sometimes wondered where to go and what to do, just so he wasn’t doing something useless. 

One unusually hot day in May Oikawa was asked to accompany his nephew – Takeru, to the local dog shelter. The two of them spent a lot of time together anyway, so Oikawa didn’t mind babysitting him again. Takeru was an eleven years old boy with dark hair cut short and dark eyes that were darting everywhere. Tooru thought the kid looked like a cat. That’s why he was surprised to find out that his nephew wanted to have a dog instead of a cat and even more so – to adopt one, instead to buy it because the whole Oikawa family could afford whatever they thought was needed. 

And so, at nine in the morning Tooru was waiting in front of his sister’s house for little Takeru to show up, so they could head for the train station. Just before the boy knocks on the door to announce his presence, the kid opened it and jumped outside, shouting cheerfully. His father showed up too – to thank Oikawa for looking after his son and to place a white cap on the head of the said son. 

The two boys headed for the station and while they were walking Takeru was jumping on every third step he took and was running his mouth about how happy he was that his parents finally let him have his own dog, and also making Oikawa walk faster so they could reach the place sooner, please, pleeease. 

The kid’s babbling didn’t stop while they were waiting for the train to the shelter. He didn’t shut his mouth while in the crowded train either. Oikawa was slowly getting sick of it – he didn’t really like dogs anyway. He thought dogs are for people who weren’t afraid to get dirty and he definitely minded his cleanliness. 

The train stopped in front of tall brick walls with a sign on them, saying this was the dog shelter. Takeru dragged his uncle to the train’s exit and the moment they were outside – he went running to the welcoming opened gate. Obviously Oikawa had no choice but to follow him. There was a big meadow behind the doors, on which three or four dogs were running around. In the corner of the whole area that the walls were surrounding, there was a small building, where the dogs were most likely kept. 

Takeru was playing with one of the dogs, which, standing upright, was almost as tall as the kid was. While Oikawa was watching him play, he didn’t feel that somebody had come close to him and he turned to the certain somebody startled when they greeted him welcome. 

In front of Oikawa there was a boy, around his height and probably his age too. He had dark hair and hazel eyes and his skin was a bit darker than Oikawa’s. What impressed Oikawa the most was his athletic body. The stranger was wearing a tank top which exposed his perfectly shaped muscles, and his knee-length-shorts – his well trained calves. The boy was smiling awkwardly, waiting for Oikawa to say something. Thank god Takeru interfered and broke the awkward silence. 

“We came to pick a dog!” he yelled at the stranger. 

The dark-haired boy laughed shyly and said that he is glad to hear it. He invited them to go in the building and see what they’ve got. Oikawa shambled after the cheerfully striding Takeru, and scolded himself for freezing like that in front of the other boy a minute ago, which had probably made him look like an idiot. 

The three of them walked through the big iron door of the building into a hall with many other doors. It smelled like animals and some preparations. Most of the doors led to different groups of dogs, as the boy leading them explained, who apparently worked there. 

“What do you need?” he asked them with a smile on his face. 

“I want to see all of them.” replied Takeru seriously. 

“Okay” the boy said with an even bigger smile “then let’s first see our newest guests.” 

He opened the first white door and Oikawa heard the deafening barking. His nephew started jumping again and went to see every single one of the cages in the room. The cages were eighteen, Oikawa counted them, and not every one of them had a dog in it. They were small and placed one above the other – the usual shelter. 

Oikawa was standing aside while the other two were discussing the dogs. First they stopped in front of the cage of a little, white dog, which was kind of looking like an Akita Inu, but its legs were too short. Next one was a real Akita and looked much calmer than the rest dogs, which didn’t stop barking and banging on the cells’ doors, trying to get Takeru’s attention, to show him how good they were and how he has to take them away immediately. The third dog which the dark-haired boy presented to the kid, was in a bigger cage than the rest, because of its big measures. It had white and brown spots, his fur was short and his tail was long. Oikawa thought that it looked like the dog from that movie, Bethoven, only that this one wasn’t as big and its fur was much shorter. What did he know about breeds anyway. 

“Wanna see the rest of the dogs?” asked the muscular boy, whose name was still unknown. 

Takeru yelled positively and the boy showed them the next room. 

“Those ones have been here the longest.” he said. “We’re mostly trying to find homes for them.”

But the dogs seemed old and Oikawa knew that their attempts wouldn’t be of any use. The boy showed Takeru another Akita dog. He said this was the best boy in there. But this one was a little different than the one in the previous room. The fur around its eyes was gray and his eyes weren’t as wide open. Old boy. 

“And these here,” said the worker a few minutes later, while opening the third door in the hall “are our babies.” 

The boys were greeted with a new portion of barking, this time shriller. Here the cage was just one, but much bigger than the previous ones. Half of the room, which wasn’t very big, was being used as a cage. A lattice fence, high as Oikawa’s waist, was put in the middle of the room and didn’t allow the puppies to go out. They were seven, neither of them thoroughbred, or at least Oikawa thought so. They weren’t cute little balls of fur, like he imagined them to be. They were thin and with long legs – like sticks. They had different patterns on their furs and pleading looks in their eyes. Poor puppies. 

It was like Takeru didn’t notice anything of that, though. He was enjoying the dogs really much and was bending over the fence to pet each of them. Oikawa was kinda afraid that his nephew could get bitten - the dogs were crashing into each other and were jumping trying to touch him, but it seemed that the kid didn’t even think there was such possible danger. 

“Did you like any of them?” asked the other boy, standing next to Takeru. 

“All! Of! Them!” he yelled cheerfully, seeming unable to gather all the happiness in himself. The kid looked at his uncle, as if expecting him to tell him which one to pick or maybe give him permission to take all seven of them. Oikawa just shrugged, he couldn’t help him in any way. 

“Maybe you should walk some of them,” interfered the other boy. “Tell me which did you like and I’ll help you bring them outside. It will be easier for you to decide which one do you enjoy playing with the most.”

Problem was, Takeru liked every dog. Every single one dog on which his shifty eyes fell. But Oikawa reminded him that they came to pick one dog after all and if he didn’t choose soon, he would go back home and leave him there. And so the kid decided to take out the old Akita and one of the puppies. First they took out the old one. At first the dog and Takeru were running all around the meadow, but the dog got tired long before even a small bit of the kid’s energy could go away. However it was visible that the dog had been trained well. It knew commands and how to perform them. But it was obvious that it wasn’t the right choice for the kid. 

While Takeru was running with the smaller dog, Oikawa and the other boy were watching them from aside. None of them knew what to say so they were just sitting in silence. Occasionally Oikawa glanced at the other one. He was looking him over. He found him attractive. He found the fact that he was working in this place attractive. He must be very good and not afraid to get his hands dirty. Actually his looks weren’t something that notable, Oikawa thought, except for his body, which was ten out of ten. 

After a while, Takeru and the puppy came to them. The kid stated this to be his new pet. The dog’s fur was brown, but only on the back. On the stomach and the legs it was lily. It was a beautiful creature, even if it wasn’t pedigree. 

“We’re taking it first thing tomorrow!” said Takeru. 

“I’m glad,” replied the dark haired boy with a smile. The both of them went to return the dog to its brothers and sisters, while Oikawa waited outside. 

Five minutes later his nephew came back, followed by the other boy, who walked them to the exit. 

“Thank you for coming,” he said. “I’ll be expecting you here again soon” he looked at Takeru. 

“Tomorrow morning!” he promised. “Goodbye!” the kid waved at him and walked out of the gates. 

“Bye,” muttered the two older boys at the same time. Their eyes locked, but only for a second, before Oikawa walked out of the shelter’s yard as well. 

While in the train, Takeru again didn’t shut up. He had liked the place so much, he wanted to adopt all of the dogs, didn’t you like one, Toru-san? Oikawa was looking through the window and was occasionally agreeing with whatever his nephew was talking about. 

“Iwaizumi-san said I chose the shyest of the babies,” said Takeru and drew his attention. 

“Who?” Oikawa asked. 

“Iwaizumi. That boy. Who worked there. Forgot him already?” 

“No,” Oikawa answered and once again looked outside the window “ just didn’t catch his name.” 

So it’s Iwaizumi. Nice name. For a nice boy.

The same evening Oikawa was sitting in front of the TV, alone, with a bow of popcorn next to him, and was watching some movie. He didn’t really follow the movie because his thoughts kept taking him somewhere else. He was thinking about the shelter. And about that boy. Iwaizumi. But why was he thinking about them? He did not know. It was nice there, maybe that’s why. He was starting to like dogs even. Poor him, couldn’t watch the movie calmly. He was fidgeting on the sofa and was wondering what would happen if he went there again.

In the end he didn’t resist and called Takeru. The kid picked up almost immediately, surprised that his uncle was calling him at this hour. Oikawa went straight forward for the question whether he could take him to the shelter tomorrow again. 

“You know, mom and dad have to see the puppy before we take it, so I have someone to take me,” answered Takeru, reminding him why they didn’t take the pup today. 

“But Takeru…” began Oikawa, wondering what to come up with so he could go there, but without his sister and her husband, cause it would look dumb. 

“What is it?”

“Well…”

“What?”

“Well… I just wanted to go there one more time.” 

“You liked the puppies, didn’t you?” asked Takeru and Oikawa could literally feel his grin through the phone. 

“Yes,” he answered. “Yes I did.”

“Then come along tomorrow.”

“I can’t.”

“Why not?”

“Because I’m gonna look stupid if I go with your parents.”

“Why?” asked Takeru again. 

“Because… “ Oikawa began angryly but stopped and calmed himself before he started yelling. “Because I’m enough of an adult to go there without them.”  
The kid stayed quiet. 

“Okay.” he said after a few seconds. 

“Okay what?”

“I’ll go with mom and dad tomorrow but I’ll ask them not to take the puppy yet. Iwaizumi-san is not on shift anyway and I wanted to see him again. He’s so cool.” 

He’s so cool. Oikawa cleared his throat. 

“And when is that Mr. Cool on shift?”

“I’ll ask tomorrow!”

“Great.” it was great. 

“And I’ll call you after.”

“I’ll be waiting.” 

“Goodnight Tooru!” Takeru yelled and hung up. 

It worked. Oikawa started getting ready for bed. He lied down and closed his eyes, ready to fall asleep right away, as always happened. But it didn’t turn out this way. Something kept him awake. As if there was something to worry him but there wasn’t such thing. Iwaizumi’s face was actually really nice. 

\- - -  
Two days later Oikawa was waiting Takeru in front of his house again. Today he had his denim short jeans and his yellow top on. Did he want to show that he too had a well-trained body which he was proud of? Yes, he did. 

They went with the same train and the ride went the same way as before. Perhaps Takeru was even more excited than the last time. 

When they entered the shelter’s field, Oikawa was greeted by two paws that thoroughly left prints of dirt on his top. He took the dog’s paws, which was standing on its two feet because of him, and placed them gently on the ground, after which he tried to clean his clothes up. There were dogs running around freely again and Takeru instantly went after them. Oikawa noticed Iwaizumi walking towards him. Before he could take a step forward he felt paws on his waist again. He sighed. 

‘’Akira!” shouted Iwaizumi, who was now ten steps away from him, and crouched to meet the big white dog. “Sorry about that,” he said, pointing to Oikawa’s tank top with one of his hands and petting the dog with the other. “We rarely see Akira on his four paws, that’s how he greets everyone.”

“It’s okay,” Oikawa smiled at him. He knew he was seeing Iwaizumi for the last time today, except if he could somehow talk to him and ask him somewhere out of the shelter. But was it this easy to ask someone you’re seeing for the second time out? Oikawa didn’t know what to say nor what to do. And he wanted to say something badly. 

“I thought Takeru was coming with his parents?” Iwaizumi said first.

“They came yesterday,” Oikawa explained. 

“And why didn’t they take the dog yesterday?”

Oikawa shrugged and looked down at his feet, nervous he might blush. 

“Takeru wanted to see you again,” he decided to blame it on his nephew. Iwaizumi laughed. A nice laugh. Oikawa wanted to punch himself. He had to say something now. Right now, while he had the chance to. He took a breath. One, two, three…

“I’m Oikawa,” he said at the same time as the other boy introduced himself as Hajime. He laughed and stood up. 

“Iwaizumi Hajime,” he said and hold out his hand. 

“Oikawa Tooru,” the other one took it and squeezed nervously, then let go from it and shoved his hands in his jeans’ pockets. They started walking slowly towards Takeru, who was sitting on the ground on the other end of the yard and was trying to pay attention to all four dogs which surrounded him. “Why did you decide to work here?” Oikawa asked even more nervously. 

“I love animals,” Iwaizumi shrugged. “Dogs have been always my favorite. And this is not really a job. I’m actually doing it voluntarily, but because I come here regularly and do the work of the little staff, sometimes they pay me. And it’s just for the summer anyway. I’m going away to study after.” 

“Where?” Oikawa asked again without even thinking the boy might not want to share this information. 

“Tokyo, veterinary medicine university. What about you?”

Oikawa told him he was accepted in Tokyo’s best university, but mostly because of his volleyball skills, to which Iwaizumi replied that he also likes to play volleyball, but has never done it outside of his neighborhood with friends, after which Oikawa suggested the two of them play together sometime, before he could stop himself. Even though it wasn’t a serious suggestion, Iwaizumi agreed to it and with that their conversation came to an end because it was time for Takeru to meet his new pet. Iwaizumi told them to wait outside while he takes out the pup. 

“If you’d come with your parents yesterday, I guess they’ve signed the papers for the adoption?” he asked two minutes later with the whelp in his hands. 

“Yes” Takeru answered. 

“And you took them with you?”

“Yes.”

Iwaizumi handed the puppy to the kid, who hugged him tightly. 

“How are you gonna name it?” Oikawa asked. 

“Ayumu” Takeru answered. 

“Why?”

“Because I like it.” was the answer the older boy received and he decided it was logical enough not to ask any more questions. 

Takeru said goodbye to Iwaizumi and thanked him for the help. Before Oikawa could say anything, Hajime asked him if he minded giving him his number. He was blushing and looking at his feet. His hands he was hiding behind his body. He looked so cute. Oikawa smiled widely, thankful that the other boy took care of his problem and cheerfully told him his number. 

Only the next day Oikawa received a call from Iwaizumi who informed him that he’d be free tomorrow and asked him if he’d like to go out to play volleyball. Oikawa, of course, agreed immediately. They decided to go out at six p.m. when it wasn’t so hot outside. They were going to meet on a playfield near Iwaizumi’s home and Oikawa was going to bring a ball. But on the said day on the said place, Oikawa found Iwaizumi standing sideways of the field and watching the game of another six boys. 

“I didn’t think there would be so many people” said he when Oikawa walked to him. “Let’s go somewhere else.” And they started walking without a direction, searching for a suitable place for playing. No one said a thing while they were walking, both too shy to start a conversation. But when they found a lawn behind a kindergarten, on which there were just two people, walking their dogs, and they started tossing the ball, the conversation went smoothly. They talked about school and graduation, about their families and their plans for the future. Oikawa learned a lot of new facts about Iwaizumi, all of which made him look even more attractive. While Oikawa was all about volleyball, Iwaizumi liked other sports too. He told him he liked to compete with his friends in running, baseball, wrestling, and he beat them almost everytime. No wonder, Oikawa thought, with those hands. For a really short moment he wondered how would Iwaizumi’s hands look on both sides of his head, cornering him somewhere. But he quickly shoved the thought away when the ball hit him in the chest. Iwaizumi had met his best friend in the shelter. He had adopted him right away and rarely went out without him. He was not good at math, but still had nice grades. He liked action movies. He liked books which could keep his interest and distract him, but not ones that throw him into deep cogitation and from which he couldn’t understand a thing. Oikawa was listening to him and was absorbing his every word.  
\- - -  
A week later the boys went out again. This time not to play, but to walk around the park and the center of the city. They got to know each other quickly. Maybe they didn’t have many common interests, but they always thought of saying something before an awkward silence could fall between them. 

They started going out more often and sometimes Iwaizumi’s dog – a big black boy, called Daisuke, joined them too. Some other times it was Takeru and Ayumu who went out with them. And at times they went all together.  
\- - -  
Soon it was time for the boys to get ready for university. They had decided to share an apartment. They didn’t know anyone in the city anyway and sharing the rent in ridiculously expensive Tokyo was always a plus. But they hardily found an apartment. Most had room for just one bed and were too small, while others were just too miserable. The boys also wanted it to be somewhere between the two universities. 

They found an apartment, though. It wasn’t big, on the last floor of a six-storey block. It had a bedroom, a small kitchen and a small bathroom. It would be enough for them, especially with its suitable location. 

A few days after they moved in, Oikawa decided he couldn’t keep on hiding all the feelings that had settled in him throughout the summer. One night while they were talking until late, he neared his face to Iwaizumi’s and kissed him, cutting his sentence off. He expected to be pushed away or even punched but none of that happened. Iwaizumi returned the kiss hungrily and pushed Oikawa on his back onto his bed, settling over him, supporting his weight on his hands. So this is how, Oikawa thought, Iwaizumi’s hands look on both sides of my head, although the boy was wearing a sweatshirt and his sleeves were covering his biceps. 

After that night it was needn’t for them to confess their feelings out loud. Everything was in the way they treated each other. Their relationship was getting stronger with every passing day. Oikawa was jealous of his boyfriend’s colleagues in the university. He was afraid he might lose the wonderful person right next to him and sometimes his jealousy led to big fights between the two, which they solved with long night talks or other stuff during the night. At the same time Iwaizumi had other reasons to be mad at Oikawa, for example when he didn’t do any housework like cleaning or cooking, or when he was acting too childish, but their fights never lasted more than a few hours and oh, was it nice when Iwaizumi hugged Oikawa after a long day, during which they hadn’t said a word to one another.

It was during their third year in the university when Iwaizumi decided to take the next step. He was now working in his university’s veterinary clinic, and Oikawa had long ago won the title “best setter” in his campus and was soon expecting a letter from Japan’s national team. 

One morning, around five thirty, both of them were lying on the now connected beds and were talking about everything. They hadn’t slept, too lost in their conversation. Their eyes were about to fall shut and their words were coming out of their mouths quiet and gentle, threatening to stop soon. Iwaizumi felt now was the moment. Right now Oikawa looked least attractive. With his too messy hair, dark circles under his eyes and unbrushed teeth. And by Iwaizumi, these looks of his were as if taking the words “I love you” reluctantly out of his mouth. He loved seeing Oikawa like this so much, so plain and not trying to be liked by everyone. He belonged to him only. 

He reached to take out something from the night stand behind Oikawa and then settled right next to him. 

“Toru?” he said.

“Hmm?” Oikawa answered with his eyes shut. 

“I love you.”

“I love you too,” he replied without opening his eyes again. He was almost asleep. 

“Toru?” Iwaizumi went on. 

“Yeah?”

“Will you marry me?” 

Oikawa opened his eyes sharply and sat on the bed. When he focused his eyes on what was in front of him he noticed that in Iwaizumi’s arm there was a velvet box with a silver ring in it. He looked at Iwaizumi unbelievingly. 

“Iwa-chan…” Through the last few years Oikawa had been dreaming about this exact moment, but had never believed truly that his boyfriend would want him for his husband. 

“You don’t have to answer me now,” Iwaizumi said perplexedly. But Oikawa didn’t let him think he had failed. He threw himself on him and started leaving wet kisses on his cheeks. Iwaizumi wasn’t quite sure whether the kisses were wet because of the tears that had suddenly appeared in Oikawa’s eyes. 

“Yes,” said quietly the sobbing boy. “I will marry you.”

Iwaizumi grabbed his hand and put the ring on his ring finger. It fit. They kissed once again and fell asleep after, Oikawa remained on Iwaizumi’s chest, too tired and happy to move.

**Author's Note:**

> Don't buy, adopt.


End file.
